Transfer Point
by Empress of Sirius
Summary: Stranded on an alien world, suffering from a mysterious illness, SG-1 races against time to find away home.


Series: Stargate SG-1  
Title: TRANSFER POINT  
Author: Empress of Sirius  
E-Mail: sirius1645@aol.com  
Status: Complete  
Category: Action/Adventure, Drama  
Spoilers: Jolinar's Memories  
Season: Season 4  
Rating: PG (very mild language)  
Content Warnings: None  
Summary: Stranded on an alien world, suffering from a mysterious illness, SG-1 races against time to find a way home.   
  
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.  
***********  
Pacing back and forth in front of the stargate, Colonel Jack O'Neill stopped just long enough to check his watch for the tenth time in as many minutes. SG-1 should have left on their mission ten, no make that 11 minutes ago. But here they were, still in the Gate Room, waiting for their problem child. And who might that be? Well, let's see--Jack did a quick mental roll call of his team. Major Samantha Carter and Teal'c were present and accounted for. On time and ready to go... Jack expected nothing less. So that left... Dr. Daniel Jackson, the team's archaeologist.  
***********  
Major Samantha Carter's Random Dialing Program had discovered another active stargate address. PCX4811Y, the most distant stargate address found to date, was located almost at the center of the galaxy.   
  
While the supercomputers at Cheyenne Mountain Complex were hard at work deciphering the Abydos cartouche--compensating for stellar drift, calculating gravitational pull, plotting elliptical orbits and spending days and megabytes of memory running sophisticated software programs to determine valid stargate addresses--O'Neill thought it was cool to just "spin the dial," so to speak and see what turned up. It was simpler and a heck of a lot easier to understand. In Jack's view, there was definitely something to be said for the low-tech approach.  
  
O'Neill was just about to declare the archaeologist AWOL when Dr. Jackson arrived, literally stumbling into the Gate Room, looking disheveled and more than a little distracted. Adjusting his glasses, Daniel quickly scanned the room searching for his teammates.  
  
"Nice of you to join us, Dr. Jackson," O'Neill shouted, motioning Daniel over to the staging area. It was hard not to miss the irritation in Jack's voice, and the decibel level insured that everyone in the Gate Room, not to mention the Command Center, knew who was responsible for the delay.  
  
Daniel scurried over to join his teammates. "Sorry I'm late," he apologized, adjusting the straps on his field pack. "The time just got away from me. I was looking over the video that SG-3 brought back from PCX632. The paintings on the tomb walls are remarkably like those of....  
  
"Yeah, yeah," O'Neill wearily cut off the archaeologist with a wave of his hand. He'd heard it all before... dozens of times. Truthfully, Jack wasn't that upset with Daniel. Jackson was okay... for an academic. He was a positive genius in linguistics and his knowledge of ancient history was unrivaled. It was just that sometimes the guy acted like such a... well, like an academic.  
  
The symbols for PCX4811Y were dialed in and locked. The wormhole opened, bathing the Gate Room in a watery blue light.  
  
"Okay campers, let's go." Glancing up at the Command Center window overlooking the stargate, Jack grinned, giving the "thumbs up" sign to General Hammond as SG-1 proceeded up the ramp and stepped into wormhole.  
***********  
PCX4811Y was actually a moon orbiting a gas giant approximately the size of Jupiter. When SG-1 exited the wormhole, they were greeted by the impressive and breathtaking sight of a red and gold planet filling almost half the sky. And although it was an optical illusion, it seemed as if the moon was about to collide with the planet at any moment.  
  
The team stepped off the gate platform, fanning out; O'Neill and Jackson on the right, Teal'c and Carter on the left.   
  
The stargate was situated atop a hill. The gate platform rested on a marble slab that might have been the foundation of a temple or government building of some sort. It was hard to tell, as the structure was in ruins. All that remained was the building's foundation and a few pieces of the roof and walls that lay scattered about.  
  
Wreckage of smaller buildings (homes or shops, perhaps) was everywhere. From the amount of debris present, O'Neill judged this to have been a fair-sized settlement in its heyday. The architecture reminded Jack of ancient Greece, or maybe Rome. Frankly, as far as he was concerned, ruins were ruins; they all looked pretty much the same to him.   
  
From their vantage point, SG-1 had a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. Rocks and boulders were strewn helter-skelter. In the distance, they could see rolling hills choked with thick brush. Stands of trees resembling Earth's willow tree grew here and there, providing the only source of shade from the bright sunlight.  
  
While Carter, Teal'c and Daniel surveyed the ruined city, O'Neill turned around to cover their back, glancing at the stargate as his eyes swept the area. Jack froze in his tracks. He definitely didn't like what he saw... or rather what he didn't see.  
  
Oh, the stargate was still there, all right. Towering over them, the stone circle looked like all the other stargates they had encountered on their missions. Except for one thing. It had no ring of symbols. In its place was a plain gray ring devoid of any markings at all. And Jack noticed another troubling fact--there was no sign of a Dial Home Device, either.  
  
"Ah, guys, notice anything different about this stargate?" Jack waved a hand in the general direction of the monolith.  
  
Carter, Daniel and Teal'c turned their attention to the gate. It took a few seconds before it registered... no symbol ring, no DHD... and no way home.  
  
"Holy Hannah," whispered Sam.  
  
O'Neill continued to stare at the gate. "Carter, did I ever tell you, your Random Dialing Program sucks!"  
***********  
"So, you're telling me you have no way of dialing out." General Hammond said from the Command Center. When SG-1 failed to report in, he had dialed PCX4811Y, only to be informed that, for all intents and purposes, the team was stranded.  
  
"Kinda looks that way, Sir," Colonel O'Neill sighed. "We're going to have a look around. Maybe we'll get lucky and find an instruction manual for this baby."  
"We'll contact you every hour," Hammond responded. "In the meantime, I'm ordering our scientists here to start working on the problem. And we'll contact the Tok'ra... see if they've ever encountered a situation like this. Good luck, Colonel," Hammond said, ending the transmission.  
  
Yeah, lotsa luck, O'Neill thought. Personally, Jack didn't think they could count on their "allies" to provide assistance any time soon. He wasn't going to hold his breath. Once again, SG-1 was on their own.   
***********  
"Okay, the first thing is, we need to do a little recon," Colonel O'Neill addressed his team. "Teal'c, you and I will check out the town, or rather, what's left of it. Carter, you and Daniel see if you can figure out how this stargate works."   
  
"Teal'c, I don't suppose you've ever seen a stargate setup like this one?" Colonel O'Neill asked the Jaffa as they made their way down the hillside to take a closer look at the city.   
  
"No, Colonel O'Neill, I have not. In all my travels with Apophis, we never encountered a stargate design such as this."  
  
"I was afraid of that."  
  
A narrow cobblestone path wound between rows of buildings, leading to a huge lake, the blue-gray liquid shimmered in the early morning sun.   
  
O'Neill wanted a closer look at the lake. If they were going to be stuck here for awhile (and it was beginning to look like that might be a real possibility), finding a source of food and water was a priority. Sure, General Hammond could keep them supplied through the stargate, but it never hurt to have a contingency plan.  
  
They had almost reached the shoreline when Jack heard sizzling and popping sounds that reminded him of frying bacon.   
  
"Do you hear that?"  
  
In answer, Teal'c broke away from O'Neill, beating him to the water's edge. Grabbing a thick tree branch lying nearby, he dipped it in the water. Sizzling and popping sounds that reminded Jack of frying bacon emanated from the water. When Teal'c removed the branch, the portion that had been immersed in the liquid was eaten away.  
  
Teal'c then rolled a large rock into the lake, taking care not splash O'Neill or himself. It too dissolved with a hiss. The "lake" was a lake of acid.   
***********  
Samantha Carter made what felt like her hundredth circuit around the stargate. She had examined it from every angle--upside down, right side up and crossways. This gate looked like every other gate she had seen. Well, except for the absence of a symbol ring and a DHD, she amended.   
  
Carter was a scientist and firmly believed that with the application of sound scientific principles and logic (and enough time), one could unlock the secrets of the universe. Well, at least a few of them, anyway, she mused. And right now, she would happily settle for the answer to just one secret--how to establish an outgoing wormhole on this stargate.   
  
Intellectually, Sam knew the situation in which they found themselves wasn't her fault, but still, it was her Random Dialing Program that had gotten SG-1 stranded, and a tiny kernel of guilt kept nagging at her. She felt it was her responsibility to find a way out of this mess.   
  
"Sam, you're going to wear a groove in the floor if you circle that thing one more time," Daniel called. He was on his hands and knees in a corner of the building, busily sorting through pieces of rock and plaster. Sneezes punctuated the air as he stirred up centuries of accumulated dust.   
  
Sam walked over to see what the archaeologist was doing. Daniel seemed to be hard at work constructing a giant jigsaw puzzle. Fragments of stone containing wedge-shaped symbols and hieroglyphs were arranged on the floor. Some of the pieces fit together seamlessly, others were badly chipped and broken, and one could only guess where they might fit on the "puzzle."  
  
"Careful where you step," Daniel warned. "I've been trying to reconstruct a portion of this paneI I found near the stargate," he said, moving another stone fragment into place. "Several pieces are missing, and the fragments that have survived are badly damaged. The inscriptions have eroded over time, and these chips and cracks don't make things any easier, but I've got a feeling this could be important."   
  
The sound of approaching footsteps announced the return of O'Neill and Teal'c. The Jaffa stationed himself at the building's perimeter, acting as sentry, while O'Neill walked over to join Sam and Daniel. Carter could tell by the look on the Colonel's face that he didn't have good news.   
  
"So, Carter, got that thing figured out yet?" O'Neill nodded toward the stargate.   
  
"Not yet, sir."   
  
"Well, there's not much left of the city. Just a lot of ruined buildings, dirt, rock, dust. Oh, and one very large lake of acid the size of Lake Superior."  
  
"Well, sir, we may have some good news. Daniel thinks he may have found something."  
  
A way out of this place, I hope, Jack thought. "Okay, Daniel, let's hear it."   
  
"I found this panel lying in pieces near the stargate. I've been trying to reconstruct it. I think this is just one small section that was part of a much larger mural," Daniel pointed to piles of debris on either side of the gate. "This writing is somewhat similar to the cuneiform writing of the ancient Persians, only much, much older."  
  
Jack leaned closer, squinting at the fragments. Maybe it was an ancient language to Daniel, but it looked like chicken scratches to him. "Uh Huh."  
  
"The writing at the top appears to be instructions, or directions. And the arrangement of these symbols," Daniel continued, indicating a strip of hieroglyphs faintly visible at the bottom of the panel, "Do they remind you of anything?"  
  
Sam, who had been leaning over Daniel's shoulder, spoke up. "Addresses. They look like stargate addresses."   
***********  
When General Hammond dialed in, O'Neill briefed him on environmental conditions and the fact that Carter had yet to make any progress with the stargate. He also informed Hammond that Dr. Jackson was in the process of translating a portion of a wall panel found at the site, which might possibly be of help.   
  
Two hours and two more check-in calls only confirmed that no progress had been made on either side of the wormhole. Carter was hard at work studying the gate's power source and Daniel was immersed in his attempts to translate the writing on the panel fragments.   
  
After Hammond's last transmission, Teal'c, who had remained on guard duty, motioned for Jack to join him at his post.  
  
"Colonel O'Neill, I have observed that when General Hammond activates the stargate, a shimmering light appears on that hill across the lake," Teal'c pointed to an area near the base of the hill. "I have observed this phenomenon three times now. It would seem these two events are related."  
  
When Hammond activated the gate one hour later, Jack remained with Teal'c. Looking through his field glasses, he saw a patch of rippling light near the bottom of the hill. It was hard to tell for sure, as he was looking at it almost edge-on and the view was partially obscured by dense brush and rock. He supposed he could be looking at another stargate... if you used your imagination and knew what you were looking for.   
***********  
Daniel stretched, trying to work the kinks out of his muscles. Removing his glasses, he rubbed his eyes. He'd been staring at the tablet fragments for hours--and getting a grand case of eye strain in addition to a stiff neck. But his physical discomfort seemed minor, now that Teal'c's discovery had given them hope of a quick way off this world.   
  
O'Neill, Carter and Teal'c were gathered around the tablet, waiting for Jackson's report.   
  
"Most of the top portion of the panel is missing, but I've managed to translate portions of the remaining pieces. It talks about arrivals or arriving, roughly translated as 'connecting with this place in the continuance of your journey.'" Daniel drifted off for a moment, lost in a world of ancient languages. Pulling himself back to the present, he continued.  
  
"Anyway, I think this place may have been something like a passenger terminal for travelers arriving from other worlds. Based on what I've been able to translate from the panel fragments, I think this stargate was used exclusively for arriving travelers. So it stands to reason there must be another stargate for departing travelers."  
  
"What about those symbols at the bottom?" Jack asked.  
  
Daniel responded, "Sam and I think they're probably stargate addresses."  
  
"Probably?"  
  
"This piece here," Carter said, pointing to a badly chipped and pitted fragment, "looks like the address for PCC963. It's just missing the last symbol to complete that address."  
  
"You happen to find Earth's address anywhere on these rocks?" Jack asked.  
  
Daniel and Carter shook their heads, no.  
  
"I guess that would have been too much to hope for."  
  
"This could be a list of addresses for the worlds that used this stargate system... a sort of 'arrivals board,'" Daniel continued. "This moon could have been a transfer point where travelers arrived at one stargate and used another to make connections to other destinations in the stargate system."   
  
"You mean this place was some sort of galactic Grand Central Station?" Jack asked.  
  
"Well, you could put it like that, I suppose..."  
  
"Okay, so if we assume this stargate was used for arrivals only, then the gate across the lake... assuming what Teal'c and I saw is another stargate... then the gate across the lake might be the departure gate. Carter?" Jack raised his eyebrows in question.   
  
"Could the light be a second stargate? Well, sir, it's possible. I've been studying the power system of this gate and there do seem to be differences from the other gates we've encountered. If there are two gates, I think they very well may be connected by a single energy source. The civilization on this moon appears to have been very advanced and very old," Carter added. "It could be this is one of the first stargates built by the Ancients. Or it might be a prototype for a new stargate design their engineers were working on. If you wanted to transport a large number of people quickly, it would be efficient to have two wormholes--one for arrivals and one for departures."  
  
Jack was about to interrupt, but Carter held up her hand, "I know what you're going to say, Colonel, these two stargates would have the same address. I thought about that, too. Maybe that was one of the problems the engineers were working on."  
  
"Major Carter, if what Colonel O'Neill and I saw is indeed another stargate, why is it located so far from this one?" Teal'c asked.  
  
"Actually, they're not that far apart, as the crow flies... in a straight line," she amended, noting the perplexed look on Teal'c's face at her use of the colloquialism. "The placement of the gates might have something to do with their source of power."  
  
O'Neill really didn't care why these alien engineers had located the stargates where they did. He just wanted to get off this moon. Jack thought their best course of action was to check out the hill across the acid lake... to determine if what they had seen was in fact another stargate.  
  
The alternative was to sit here and wait for Hammond's team to come up with an idea for getting them home, and Jack didn't think that was going to happen any time soon. He felt sure Carter would come up with a plan. Frankly, Jack had more faith in Sam's abilities than all the scientists working at Cheyenne Mountain and the Stargate Project put together, although he'd never admit that to her.   
  
If they didn't find what they were looking for across the lake, they could always return to what they had come to think of as the arrival gate. No big deal. Maybe by that time, General Hammond would have found a solution.  
  
When Hammond checked in, Jack informed him of their plan to investigate the possible site of a second stargate. Worst case scenario, SG-1 would be out of communication for a couple of days, but if everything went according to plan, they'd be home in a matter of hours.  
  
The general agreed. "We'll dial in every eight hours until you return. See you soon."  
**********  
SG-1 packed up their gear and moved out. Initially, they made good time, but about an hour into their journey, the terrain changed dramatically. The gently rolling hills gave way to steeper, more uneven ground covered with rocks, loose gravel and patches of almost impenetrable brush. Thorns from the shrubbery, pulled at their clothing and scratched their faces. Walking became difficult and their pace slowed considerably.   
  
The terrain hadn't looked that bad from their vantage point back at the arrival gate. At the rate they were moving, their mission time would double, Jack grumbled to himself as he deflected a lethal-looking spiked branch that narrowly missed gouging his eye. He saved his eye, but got a nasty cut on his thumb for his trouble.   
  
They'd made it through a particularly rough patch of terrain and were climbing a hill covered with loose gravel and rocks. They were almost at the top when the ground began to shake violently. Jack fell to his knees, but managed to stop himself from sliding downhill. Carter wasn't so fortunate; she lost her balance, crashing backward onto Daniel. Both hit the ground with a thud. Teal'c had used his staff weapon for support and was the only team member to remain standing.   
  
"Is everyone okay?" Jack asked. Cautiously getting to his feet, he winced at the pain in his right knee. He must have twisted it when he fell.   
  
There were grunts and groans in the affirmative as everyone slowly got up and dusted themselves off, checking for injuries. Other than a few bumps and bruises, they were all okay. The whole episode hadn't lasted more than a few seconds, but it felt like hours had gone by.  
  
"What the hell was that, Carter, an earthquake?" Jack asked.  
"Technically, you'd call it a moonquake, sir, since this is a moon. But yes, that was a quake."  
  
Jack definitely didn't like the sound of that. O'Neill quickened their pace; the sooner they arrived at their objective, the better. He hoped this was just an isolated episode, but with SG-1's luck, he had a feeling that wasn't going to be the case.  
  
During the course of the afternoon, they experienced two more quakes. Thankfully, these were minor tremors, not nearly as strong as the first one.  
***********  
Night fell quickly. SG-1 made camp in a clearing in view of the lake, but far enough away from the shore (Jack hoped) to avoid the deadly "splash zone" should a quake produce a mini-tsunami. After a dinner of MRE's, O'Neill handed out the watch assignments, with Teal'c doing the first turn at guard duty.   
  
Sam and Daniel were sitting by the fire, reviewing notes the archaeologist had hastily scribbled at the arrival gate site. Daniel was hoping to translate more of the inscriptions from the wall panel.  
  
Jack stepped away from the glare of the fire and looked up at the night sky. It was still disconcerting to see the planet looming over them. He wondered if it was inhabited--probably not, after all, it was a gas giant, he reminded himself. Shifting his gaze southward, he noticed a faint hazy glow, a smudge of light that spread along the horizon.  
  
"What's that?" he asked Carter, pointing toward the pale yellow haze.  
  
"There's an extremely dense concentration of stars at the core of our galaxy. You're looking at the center of the Milky Way," Sam explained.   
  
"Cool." Despite the threat of earthquakes and acid, O'Neill couldn't help but be impressed. After all, how many people were lucky enough to see such a sight.   
  
Jack's stargazing was suddenly interrupted by a loud crash.  
  
"Teal'c," Jack called. No answer.  
  
"Hey, Teal'c, are you okay?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Teal'c..." Still no response.  
  
Drawing his sidearm, Jack rushed forward.   
  
Teal'c lay sprawled motionless on the ground, face-forward in the dirt, staff weapon at his side. Whatever had happened, apparently, he'd had no time to react.  
  
"Carter... Daniel," O'Neill shouted. "I need your help. Something's happened to Teal'c."  
  
"Jack!" Daniel called in answer, "You better get over here. Sam just collapsed!"  
***********  
O'Neill and Daniel carried Teal'c back to camp, laying him next to Sam by the campfire. Although efforts to revive the pair were unsuccessful, their conditions didn't appear to change during the course of the night... both remained unconscious. O'Neill had some medical field training, which really amounted to nothing more than a glorified first-aid course. Whatever this condition was, it was way beyond his capabilities.  
  
Daniel told Jack that Sam had seemed fine--although she appeared to be a little tired. He hadn't thought much about that, not after the day they'd been through. They were studying a drawing Daniel had made of some of the pictograms from the wall panel when Sam collapsed without warning. If Daniel hadn't been there to catch her, she would have pitched right into the fire.  
**********  
Slowly, Sam floated back to consciousness. And wanted to crawl right back into the comforting arms of darkness. Opening her eyes, she blinked at the bright morning light. She felt weak, washed out and her head was pounding. Fighting off a wave of dizziness, she struggled to sit up.   
  
"Take it easy," Daniel laid a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "How are you feeling?"   
  
"I'm okay. A little weak," Sam was reluctant to admit how bad she really felt.  
  
"How's Teal'c?" she had a vague memory from the previous night--something about Teal'c being injured?  
  
"Still down for the count," O'Neill responded. "Whatever this was, it hit him pretty hard."  
  
Finally, Teal'c began to stir. The Jaffa looked terrible. Jack couldn't remember Teal'c ever looking as sick as he did now. Trying unsuccessfully to sit up, Teal'c lay back down. He didn't move. Definitely not a good sign.  
  
"How're you feeling?" Jack asked.   
  
"I have been better," Teal'c responded, his usual deep gruff voice reduced to a whisper. "I am weak and experiencing attacks of vertigo and nausea. My head aches and I am having trouble concentrating."  
  
"Uh Huh. How's Junior?" Jack asked, referring to the larval Goa'uld symbiont residing in Teal'c's abdominal cavity.   
  
"Junior, is not well either. Whatever this affliction is, it appears to have had a deleterious effect on my symbiont. It has been unable to heal itself and is growing weaker."  
  
And if Junior's in rough shape, it sure as heck wouldn't be producing any medical miracles for Teal'c, Jack thought.  
  
"Well, Carter and Teal'c seem to be the only ones affected. Anyone have any ideas why?"  
  
Sam had been giving this question serious thought. "Sir, I believe it could have something to do with the Goa'uld. Teal'c is affected because he's host to a larval Goa'uld."  
  
"Sam," Daniel interjected, "you're not host to a Goa'uld and you're sick."  
  
"But I do have Goa'uld protein markers in my blood, left over from my time as host to Jolinar. There must be something on this moon that's toxic to the Goa'uld because neither you or Colonel O'Neill seem to be affected."  
  
Jack could see Carter and Teal'c weren't going to be running marathons any time soon. Jack mentally added at least one more day of travel time to their journey, and even that, he thought, was being optimistic. He and Daniel had been spared--so far. Jack felt fine. Well, maybe a little tired, but under the circumstances, that was to be expected.  
  
They didn't have a clue as to what caused this illness. They'd brought all their supplies, including drinking water, with them, so, the culprit most likely was something in the air. Maybe a virus or bacteria, or some colorless, odorless, tasteless gas.   
***********  
Teal'c struggled unsteadily to his feet. He thought that perhaps a short walk would clear his head and loosen his aching muscles. Thanks to his symbiont, Teal'c usually enjoyed excellent health, and he was unaccustomed to dealing with sickness.   
  
Slowly, Teal'c made his way toward the lake. He'd only gone a short distance when he noticed something unusual. The lake seemed much closer to their campsite this morning than it had the night before. Upon examining the shoreline, he noted that the acid had encroached upon a small grove of trees; those closest to the lake had been eaten by the acid. There had been a dozen trees in the stand, now only four small willow trees remained untouched. Teal'c was positive none of the trees had been near the shoreline last night. The acid lake definitely was expanding, and at an alarming rate. He could almost see the lake level rise before his eyes. He must inform Colonel O'Neill.  
  
Moving as fast as his rubbery legs would allow, Teal'c just reached the campsite when another quake hit. It rumbled through the area like a freight train, dislodging rocks, shifting earth and opening fissures in the ground; one particularly nasty crack appeared in the middle of SG-1's campsite.   
  
Like flipping a switch, as quickly as it began, the quake was over. An eerie calm descended; the only sound the hiss and crackle of acid as it flowed into newly formed fissures.   
  
O'Neill decided he had better check out the territory ahead to see what surprises were in store for them. Leaving Daniel in charge of their patients, Jack followed the shoreline of the lake. Teal'c was right, there definitely had been some major changes during the night. Yesterday, the lake had resembled a placid pool with only the occasional ripple marring its surface. Today, it was a mass of fast-moving currents and producing waves that lapped at the shoreline like a hungry monster, devouring everything in its path.  
  
Their trek to find the second stargate had now taken on a sense of urgency. If the lake of acid totally surrounded the hill before they arrived, SG-1 would be cut off from the departure gate. And at the rate the lake was growing, that was a very real possibility. They were going to have to move fast to beat the expanding lake--a grueling march under the best of circumstances. With half the team operating at less than peak efficiency, it was going to be a real challenge.  
  
And something else was nagging at Jack. Was there really a second stargate? Or had they merely taken what they had thought was a flash of light and a couple of scratches on a rock fragment and used their collective imagination to fashion an escape route where none existed? If they were wrong, they were in BIG trouble. Sighing, Jack headed back to camp.  
***********  
It was slow going. Daniel did his best to help Sam, but he wasn't feeling too good himself. In addition to fatigue and weakness, Daniel was having trouble concentrating. His mind kept wandering; he couldn't seem to focus his thoughts.  
  
O'Neill kept one hand on Teal'c's shoulder to steady him. He was afraid that if he let go, the Jaffa might crash to the ground. Jack was also using Teal'c for support. He'd been a little tired this morning, but as the day wore on, fatigue had blossomed into full-blown exhaustion. He had a headache, too. Looking at Sam and Daniel, he noted that Jackson didn't look well, either. Whatever this was, evidently, he and Daniel had contracted it, too.   
***********  
When Jack finally called for a break at mid-day, Sam gratefully sank to the ground. She didn't know if she'd have the strength to get up again, and frankly, she didn't care.  
  
During their march, Sam had been trying to analyze their situation. She was convinced the activation of the stargates on this moon was somehow connected to the quakes. While SG-1 rested, Carter shared her theory.  
  
SG-1 had unknowingly set in motion a chain of events that probably started thousands of years ago when the gates were first constructed. The moon must be geologically unstable, and over time, continued activation of the gates weakened the moon's interior, causing quakes and creating fissures in the earth. The acid oozed to the surface through these cracks, pouring out over the town and creating the lake. When the inhabitants abandoned the moon, operation of the gates ceased and the quakes evidently had stopped, as Sam hadn't detected any signs of recent seismic activity. When SG-1 arrived, they had set these forces in motion again.  
  
"So every time Hammond dials in, he's adding fuel to the fire," Jack said.  
  
"Yes, sir," Carter replied. I don't think this moon can take much more internal stress. If the General dials in a few more times, he very well may set off the 'Big One.'"  
  
Wearily dragging themselves to their feet, they resumed their trek. Peering through the brush, O'Neill glimpsed the lake off to his right. It might be his imagination, but it seemed to have grown larger since he last looked at it just a few minutes ago.   
  
Jack considered going back to the arrival gate, but at the rate the lake was expanding, it may have already cut off their access to the city. And frankly, given their rapidly deteriorating health, SG-1 was in no condition to make the return trip.   
***********  
It was late afternoon when they finally reached their objective. They had climbed to the top of the hill instead of going around its base because brush and rock had blocked their way. Thankfully, they had managed to stay ahead of the rapidly expanding lake. Tremors shook the ground more frequently now, each episode worse than the last.  
  
O'Neill noted that it would soon be dark. They might have to camp out under the stars one more night, which Jack definitely wanted to avoid. Shifting his gaze toward the bottom of the hill, he spotted something through the brush... the familiar shape of a stone ring. A stargate... and on this one he could see an inner ring filled with symbols.  
  
"Yes!" Jack gave an enthusiastic yell. Finally, something was going right. His spirits lifted as they picked their way down the slope for a closer look. "There it is, guys. We'll be back home in time for supper!... Or maybe not," he amended looking past the gate.  
  
When they had seen the gate from the city, it had been located well away from the acid lake. The lake had grown so large that the stargate was now very close to the shoreline, the corrosive liquid just a few feet from the base.   
  
While the stargate itself looked to be undamaged, the same couldn't be said for the Dial Home Device, located to the right of the gate. A quake had sent an acid wave splashing over the DHD, turning it into a molten mass of sludge.  
**********  
The exhausted group collapsed on the steps of the gate platform. No one could find the strength to speak.   
  
Finally, O'Neill turned to Carter. "Any ideas, Major?"  
  
Sam rubbed her eyes, trying to shake off her lethargy. If she could just think through this problem, take it one step at a time... she was so tired and it was so hard to concentrate. The answer was there, floating around in her brain, if only she could focus and pull it out.  
  
Jack checked his watch. "We don't have much time. In five minutes General Hammond is going to dial in. Whatever we're going to do, we have to do it fast, because at the rate the lake is rising, this gate isn't going to be here in another eight hours."  
  
There was nothing like a little shot of adrenaline to clear the cobwebs out of the brain.   
  
"Okay... the two gates seem to be connected to a single power source," Carter stated. "Based on what we've observed, when an incoming wormhole is established at the arrival gate, it sends a signal to power up the departure gate. So when General Hammond dials in, we have to be ready to dial out."  
  
"Sam," Daniel protested, "we'll have to dial out manually--that's a heck of a tough job even if we were all in top shape--which we're definitely not. Hammond doesn't keep the wormhole open very long. There's no way we're going to have time to complete a manual dialing sequence before the power shuts down."  
  
"We will if we use an address with symbols that are close together on the symbol ring. We can use that address as our transfer point--gate to that address, then dial Earth from there."  
  
"Okay, sounds like a plan," Jack responded. They really didn't have much in the way of alternatives. "Daniel, give us an address that's easy to dial. And please, try to pick a planet where the natives are friendly!"  
  
Daniel closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. The clock was ticking. He didn't need Jack to tell him that. Gate symbols, hieroglyphics, bits and pieces of dozens of ancient languages were all jumbled together in his head. If he only had time to sort it all out. But he didn't have time; he had to sort it out NOW. Sam's plan was their only hope. Between the quakes, the acid lake, and this strange illness, they weren't going to last much longer.  
  
"Daniel... Daniel... Hey, Jackson, wake up!" Jack roughly shook Daniel's shoulder.  
  
Right, right, an address... had to think of an active gate address so they could go home.   
  
Daniel looked up at the dialing ring, studying each symbol intently. He'd dialed dozen's, hundreds, of addresses, but they were all running together in his head. PZZ24... PCZ... PCZ2463... no... that stargate was no longer active... it was buried. He seemed to recall the natives were going to bury the gate to save themselves from the... the... Goa'uld.  
  
PCZ3464. Yeah, PCZ3464... all the symbols for that address were in close proximity to each other on the dialing ring, well, except for the sixth and seventh symbols. He head was beginning to clear a little. Yes, if he remembered correctly (and, God, he hoped he did.) He had been to the planet as part of an expedition with SG-5. The stargate was located in a swamp. He remembered the heat and humidity--over 100 degrees Fahrenheit that day. It had been hard to breathe, huge bugs crawling everywhere. And the snakes... Daniel shuddered just thinking about them. Hardly on his top ten list of vacation spots, but it would work just fine as their transfer point.  
  
"Jack, I hope you don't mind a few insects and reptiles, because the address I have in mind is in a swamp..."  
  
"Daniel," Jack interrupted, "I don't care! Right now, the Goa'uld home world is looking good! Just pick an address and let's get on with it!"  
  
"PCZ3464. All the symbols are relatively close together on the dialing ring, except for the sixth and seventh symbol. It's the best I can do."  
  
At that moment the gate began to power up. Hammond was dialing in--right on schedule.  
  
"Okay, places everybody," Jack yelled.   
  
It took all four of them to manually move the dialing ring. Daniel announced the first symbol. They put their shoulders to the ring and pushed. It moved... slowly. Using their combined strength, they managed to move the ring to the first symbol. It locked!  
  
Buoyed by their success, they dialed the second symbol. Another lock.  
  
The third and fourth symbols were very close on the ring so they didn't have to expend as much effort on those two. They were over halfway home. Jack didn't know how much time had elapsed... it felt like hours had gone by. But with only three symbols to go, they just might make it.  
  
As they were dialing the fifth symbol, another quake hit, producing large waves on the lake. One wave crashed against the stargate foundation, dissolving a corner of the base.   
  
SG-1 worked furiously. Although the ground was heaving beneath their feet, they somehow managed to get the fifth symbol locked. Two more to go. But the toughest part was ahead of them, as the sixth and seventh symbols were far apart--almost on opposite ends of the dialing ring.   
  
This quake showed no signs of abating; in fact, it seemed to be building in strength. The ground rippled, cracks opened in the earth near the gate and began filling with acid.  
  
They got a lock on the sixth symbol. Just one more to go.  
  
Calling on their last reserves of strength, the team inched the dialing ring toward the seventh symbol. Suddenly, a sharp jolt hit the gate platform, sending Carter flying backward. She tumbled down the steps, landing on her back. Dazed, she lay sprawled across a newly formed fissure.  
  
Leaving his place at the gate, Jack hobbled to Sam's side. Bending down, he grabbed a handful of her shirt, roughly pulled her forward moments before a river of acid bubbled up from the fissure over which she had fallen.  
  
Smiling her thanks, Carter shakily got to her feet and started back to the gate.  
  
"It's losing power!" She shouted, "Hammond must have deactivated the wormhole."  
  
Sam and Jack scrambled up the steps, adding their remaining strength to that of Daniel and Teal'c. Little by little, the dialing ring crept toward the seventh symbol.  
  
An acid wave crashed into the stargate's foundation, dissolving a sizable portion of the base. One more wave like that and the gate would be destroyed.  
  
"Come on, guys, push!" Jack screamed.  
  
With one last surge of adrenaline, SG-1 gave it everything they had.  
  
The seventh symbol locked into place, activating the wormhole.  
  
"All right! Let's go!" Jack shouted. Grinning, Jack turned weary eyes on Daniel. "Daniel, what I said earlier about the Goa'uld home world... I was just kidding!"  
  
As SG-1 stepped through the wormhole, acid flooded over the base of the stargate, destroying the foundation and toppling the gate into the lake, where it dissolved in a cloud of vapor.  
***********  
The wormhole unceremoniously spit them out into a swamp of stagnant, brackish water. It was a rough ride. Carter and Teal'c were unconscious. One on each side of him, O'Neill was doing his best to keep their heads above water. It was dark, evidently night on this planet. The buzz and whine of insects filled the humid air. Jack thought he saw something large and reptilian moving off to his left. He couldn't be sure, and frankly, he thought it best if he didn't look too closely.   
  
And the smell... like rotten garbage. When Daniel said the stargate was on this planet was located in a swamp, Jack didn't think he had meant that literally. But the important thing was that the gate was active and the DHD looked to be in working condition. Everything they could ask for.  
  
"Daniel, dial us home, now," Jack ordered. The splashing and crashing sounds were coming closer, the water was churning. Something was coming their way, and it sounded big and hungry.  
  
Daniel was still having trouble concentrating. Earth... Earth... the gate address for Earth. Something so simple, but he couldn't seem to remember. Okay, deep breaths, focus... yes, okay. Memory flooded back. Now... Got it!   
  
Wading over to the DHD, Daniel quickly dialing the address for Earth. The wormhole opened and he sent SG-1's signal to the SGC.   
  
O'Neill dragged Carter and Teal'c to the wormhole's event horizon.  
  
"Coming, Daniel," Jack called, "or would you rather stay here with the Loch Ness Monster?"  
  
Daniel was exhausted; he didn't know if he had the strength to walk the last few steps to the gate. Behind him, he heard an awful sound--something between a growl and a moan. Not daring to turn around, he scrambled to the gate in a burst of energy he didn't know he had.   
  
O'Neill pushed his team through the wormhole before he stumbled through... to find himself sprawled on the ramp of the Gate Room at the SGC. They were home!  
***********  
TWO DAYS LATER:  
  
Jack passed Carter in the hall on his way to General Hammond's office. Everyone had made a complete recovery from the mysterious illness, although, Dr. Frazier still had Teal'c under observation in the infirmary, much to his dismay.   
  
"Colonel," Carter nodded at Jack, "I thought you'd want to know, this morning we tried dialing PCX4811Y, but couldn't get a lock. Evidently, the acid lake has flooded the rest of the town and destroyed the arrival gate."  
  
"Oh, well, I guess we can scratch that address off our list," Jack replied blithely.  
  
"Sir, about the Random Dialing Program..." Sam began.  
  
"You know, Major," Jack interrupted her, "I'm kinda looking forward to another spin of the dial."  
  
The End   
  
  



End file.
